[President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be moved indoors, he announced Friday, due to “dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital.”
“I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will honor the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda.
The committee always makes contingency plans to host the inauguration in multiple locations in case of weather or other obstacles, but the challenge now is where to put the thousands of people who would have been outside but cannot all fit in the Rotunda.
The vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person, the committee said in a notice sent to ticket holders. It urged would-be spectators to watch at “indoor venues of their choice,” adding that it’s “designating certain places to watch and will provide additional information.”
The Secret Service and other agencies, including DC and US Capitol Police, are working to determine how moving the inauguration and parade indoors will change security plans for Monday. Agencies now have just three days to put together a new security plan that previously took months to plan.
Trump’s inauguration was expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of ticketed guests and involve roughly 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel. As of Friday morning, more than 30 miles of fencing was still being set up and was meant to filter crowds through security checkpoints in anticipation for Trump’s now-scrapped outdoor inauguration and parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
Law enforcement agencies are working to craft a new plan around Trump’s inauguration now that the ceremony and parade are being moved indoors, which could make security easier in some respects. The Rotunda in the US Capitol, where the inauguration will now be held, can hold approximately 700 people and is only set to be open to members of Congress, their spouses and VIPs, one congressional source tells CNN, though a final plan is still in flux.
Security for the event will reflect how the US Capitol Police, in partnership with the Secret Service and others, secures the building and surrounding area for State of the Union addresses. It will be closed off to the public, who have instead been directed to the Capital One Arena.
The arena has a capacity of just over 20,000, whereas law enforcement officials have said that over 200,000 individuals had tickets to the inauguration. The Sergeant at Arms for the Capitol told congressional offices that the “weather plan precludes the vast majority of ticketed guests from attending the ceremonies in person.” They also said that inaugural tickets could still be handed out as commemorative items for those who can no longer attend.
Security measures for the arena and the surrounding area are still being worked out between the Secret Service, DC police and other agencies.
Officials are worried about the low temperatures being a health risk to attendees and guests – a concern Trump voiced on Friday. “I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!),” Trump posted.
The last president to be sworn in indoors was Reagan in 1985, when daytime temperatures dipped to 7 degrees with a windchill of -25. Reagan took the oath of office inside the Capitol rotunda. His inaugural parade was canceled.
This year, the temperature on Inauguration Day at noon – when the president-elect swears in – is expected to be in the low 20s, which is around 20 degrees below normal – likely the coldest since Reagan’s second inauguration.
Winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph are likely Monday. These winds will make conditions feel frigid. Wind chills are likely to hover around 10 degrees during the daylight hours and could drop into the single digits after sundown.
A mix of rain and snow is possible Sunday ahead of the main event, but Monday so far looks to be cold and windy, but dry.
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